(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to digital images, and in particular, to embedding camera-related information in digital images.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Digital media, such as digital photographs and video, has become increasingly prevalent as the performance of digital cameras and color printers have improved and their cost decreased. In addition, the popularity of the Internet, which facilitates the distribution, via e-mail or Web sites, of digital images has also increased the creation of 15 digital media.
However, images taken using conventional digital media capture devices, such as conventional digital cameras, typically are not adequately reproduced, whether the reproduction is accomplished using an ink jet printer, a color laser jet printer, a thermal wax printer or on a computer display. This failure to adequately reproduce the captured images may be attributed in part to the fact that image capture device performance characteristics are not taken into account. In addition, little or no information is provided by the image capture device on the camera settings used to capture a given image. Further, even when very limited information is provided, the information is provided as a separate file, which is associated with the given image. Thus, the information is not provided as part of a standard image file, such as a JPEG image file.
Because of the deficiencies noted above, users of digital image capture devices are still often dissatisfied with their performance and the resulting images reproductions.